Homily of St. Gregory the Great: The Third Sunday of Advent: The humility of St. John the Baptist

I am baptizing you with water; but there is one standing in your midst of whom you know nothing. John baptized with water, not with the Spirit, for he could not pardon; he washed the bodies of those he baptized, but he could not give them the pardon that would have cleansed their souls. Why then did he baptize, since his baptism could not remit sins? In order to fulfil his role as precursor. His birth had preceded the Lord's birth and his baptism likewise preceded the baptism of the Lord; his gift of prophecy made of him the precursor of Christ, and moreover he was his precursor by baptism, the type of the Christian Sacrament. Thus, announcing the mystery, he asserts that Christ was among men who knew him not, for our Lord in his humanity was visible but his Divinity remained hidden.

John said again: He it is, who, though he comes after me, takes rank before me. By the words: takes rank before me, he means to say: is greater than I. He comes after me, because he was born after me: but he takes rank before me for his place is higher. When saying the same thing earlier, John had added some words which show the cause of this pre-eminence: He was when I was not, it was as though he had said: If he surpasses me, although he was born after me, it is because for him, the date of his birth was not an absolute beginning; for, by his mother, he was born in time, but he was generated by his Father outside time.

And to show what humble respect is due to him, John adds: I am not worthy to untie the strap of his shoes. No human eye can penetrate the mystery of the Incarnation. How the Word took flesh, how God, sovereign Spirit, giver of life, received life in the womb of a mother, are all matters which no one can fully understand. John himself was incapable of scrutinizing the depth of the mystery, though he knew it by the spirit of prophecy. When he said: I am not worthy to untie the strap of his shoes, he was plainly and humbly declaring his ignorance, as if he had said: What wonder that he surpasses me, though he was born after me, since I cannot understand the mystery of his birth! Thus, John himself, filled though he was with the spirit of prophecy, and shining with an extraordinary knowledge, nevertheless recognized his own ignorance. If then the saints, even while they did great things, thought nothing of themselves, what excuse can they give who are puffed up with pride, without having the merit of virtue?